WITH a handful of killer melodies, credentials from the ecstasy-soaked Manchester school of music and heaps of luck, the band Doves created “The Last Broadcast” – one of the most hailed British exports of the year.

The pop trio may be relative newcomers here in the States, but they’ve been paying their dues since the early ’90s, when high school pals Jimi Goodwin and twin brothers Andy and Jez Williams – now all in their early 30s – made music under the moniker Sub Sub.

Their sound has evolved from rave anthems, like the ’93 hit “Here It Comes,” to the dark ’99 brooder, “Lost Souls.”

On their just-released “Last Broadcast” the band has finally found a balance that’s bright and even (gasp!) optimistic.

With the disc’s rave reviews – the British press has dubbed the band the next Radiohead – there’s little reason for this Dove to cry.

The Post spoke to vocalist and bass player Goodwin, who leads his band on stage at the Hammerstein Ballroom Thursday.

Post: How do you feel about being called “the new Radiohead”?

Goodwin: We never made a comparison between Radiohead and us – you journalists did that.

Post: Do you consider it a compliment?

Goodwin: We like Radiohead and we admire them, but we aren’t them and we don’t want to be compared to anybody else. So at this point, it’s a bit of a backhanded compliment.

Post: One of the more unusual qualities of “Last Broadcast” is that all of the songs feel very different from one another.

Goodwin: That’s because all three of us write. That makes the album a mixed ride. I don’t want to sound pompous and I’m wary about words like eclectic, but the different sounds make for a more interesting hour and five minutes of music.

Post: Is there any friction within your band because of the twin brothers who’ll always side with one another?

Goodwin: Yes, the twins are incredibly close, but we are all incredibly close. We’ve been together for 13 years.

Post: Things haven’t always been so upbeat – you reportedly had a mental breakdown.

Goodwin: That’s an exaggeration. All that happened was I went through a rough patch.

Post: So you don’t have a straitjacket in the closet?

Goodwin: I know you’re joking with me, but it was a hard time. I had lost my first love, then a very close friend of the band died and then our studio burned down.

Post: You’ve been praised in England as the next big band – are you at all concerned whether that will translate here?

Goodwin: If people want to see us play and if people get the album, we’ll play here, and play here again. America is so vast. I don’t want to do the seven-months-on-a-bus thing. We’re not 21 any more – we all have lives at home.

Post: Are you married?

Goodwin: No, but we all have girlfriends. Our being in a band that’s traveling around is hard on them, but I think they all understand what we are doing. We all also have families at home that we don’t want to be away from.

Post: Many rock bands want to travel and see the world, but you don’t seem all that thrilled.

Goodwin: I find I’m the most creative when I’m puttering around home or just cleaning the house. I get an idea for a song and I’ll head off and write. It’s when I’m at home that I feel most grounded.